Ellis, Nomar to the DL; Patterson, Cameron promoted

As expected, the A’s placed Mark Ellis and Nomar Garciaparra on the 15-day disabled list, and called up infielder Eric Patterson and reliever Kevin Cameron from Triple-A Sacramento. Cameron was not on the 40-man roster, so to make room for him, the club transferred Justin Duchscherer to the 60-day DL. That’s no big deal. Duchscherer, recovering from elbow surgery, will be eligible to come off the DL June 4, and he probably wouldn’t be ready to pitch before then anyway.

Here’s a look at Patterson’s career stats. He hit .174 in 30 games with Oakland last season after coming over in the Rich Harden trade from the Cubs. Cameron appeared in 58 games, all in relief, over the past two seasons w/San Diego. His addition still leaves the A’s with a six-man bullpen assuming Santiago Casilla misses some time w/his calf injury.